The Simurgh

<infobox> <title source="name"><default>The Simurgh</default></title>

<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>

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<label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox> The Simurgh (pronounced: "SEE-morg") is an Endbringer.

Appearance

The Simurgh appears as a fifteen-foot tall woman, waif-thin and unclothed. Her hair is almost as long as she is tall and is, like the rest of her form, platinum-white. She has a variety of asymmetrically and apparently randomly placed feather wings, which appear excessively large compared to her body.<ref name="Cast1">Simurgh – A creature that appears as a freakishly tall woman with a countless number of wings fanning out from her body, some fanning out from other wings. A precognitive, telekinetic, clairvoyant with a psychic scream. - Cast (spoiler free)</ref> Parts of her are described as being "hollow", or made from carefully placed wings, which serve as replicas of the absent body part. Her eyes are a solid gray, described by Krouse as seeming cold.  

She wraps her three largest wings around her, ostensibly to preserve her modesty, although Krouse doubts, after coming close to her, that she has a sense of modesty at all.

Abilities and Powers

The Simurgh possesses a psychic 'scream' - a type of psychic echolocation that allows her to scan her surroundings while exerting psychic pressure to alter behavior, implant messages, or create compulsions.<ref name="R1"/> Her "hibernation" state in orbit allows her to make low-intensity scans of the planet with this sense.<ref name ="I28">Excerpt from Interlude 28</ref><ref name="R1" /> To victims, it is usually perceived as a scream in the back of their minds, constantly changing in pitch and tone.<ref name="17.2"/> However, she was capable of keeping it inaudible.<ref name="28.4">Cockroaches 28.4</ref><ref name="R1"/>

She possesses the ability of precognition, perfect awareness of the immediate future, and the more she sings/scans the further it reaches.<ref name="Cast2">The Simurgh is shorter than her brothers, and sports a large number of asymmetrical wings. She possesses telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition and a perpetual psychic scream. Seen as the most cunning and intelligent of the three, the Simurgh uses her precognition to employ long term schemes, each with Rube-Goldberg sequences of events, culminating in grave disasters and tragedies. - Cast (in depth)</ref><ref name="R1">The Simurgh is the third. She's only 15 feet tall but has a massive wingspan. The key to understanding her is her psychic 'scream' - this is basically a kind of psychic echolocation allowing her to scan her surroundings while exerting a psychic pressure to alter behavior, implant messages or create compulsions. She has precognition, perfect awareness of the immediate future, and the more she sings/scans the further it reaches. The byline for dealing with the Simurgh is that you'll probably win the fight but you'll lose the war. She uses these scans to make long-term predictions of behavior and activity (in the order of months and years) to turn human beings into rube-goldberg devices, with whole streams or strings of horrific events occuring in areas she's been active. This includes laying the groundwork for major heroes to be attacked at the opening of a future crisis, or the creation of supervillains of international notoriety. She's a telekinetic capable of tossing buildings, she flies, and her scanning ability lets her borrow and copy techniques and mental powers from others - including the power of tinkers (essentially scanning Iron Man and gaining the ability to make what he can make, then telekinetically pulling together a macro-scale version of his devices from surrounding materials). - Wildbow on Reddit</ref> She sees the past in a similar manner, and can focus on a single target for faster information, but is blind to the present moment. Future-viewers obscured possibilities from her sight, as did Eidolon and Scion, and certain other powers. She could see things that were otherwise obscured by looking at people's perceptions of them, or otherwise observing their consequences, as well as by predicting their most likely course.<ref name ="I28"/>

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By DamienDraidecht

She uses these scans to make long-term predictions of behavior and activity (in the order of months and years) to turn human beings into rube-goldberg devices, with whole streams or strings of horrific events occurring in areas she's been active.<ref name="R1"/> She can influence machines as well as people.<ref name ="I28"/><ref name="22.6">Excerpt from Cell 22.6</ref> Her scan allows her to borrow and copy techniques and mental powers - including Tinker powers - and then telekinetically pull together a macro-scale version of their devices from the surrounding materials.<ref name="R1"/> With enough knowledge of a subject, she can evoke memories subconsciously through her posture and actions. By placing a target in a stressful environment, this can be used to cause hallucinations.<ref name ="I28"/>

The Simurgh is also a powerful telekinetic capable of tossing buildings and flight.<ref name="R1"/><ref name="17.1">Excerpt from Migration 17.1</ref><ref name="17.2">Migration 17.2</ref> She could strike a hundred targets simultaneously with thrown debris.<ref name="27.3">Migration 17.3</ref> She could create "decoys" out of debris capable of fooling Scion.<ref name="17.2"/><ref name="30.5">Speck 30.5</ref><ref name="29.2">Venom 29.2</ref>Her telekinesis was seemingly Manton-limited,<ref name="28.4">Excerpt from Cockroaches 28.4</ref> but could still throw capes around by manipulating debris, cape-created material and costumes.<ref name="28.4"/><ref name="17.2"/> Like all Endbringers, she is immensely durable and strong.<ref name="R1"/>

History

Background

The Simurgh was the third Endbringer to arrive, appearing just after the turn of the millennium. She first appeared in Lausanne, Switzerland in December 2002<ref>Interlude 24.x</ref>, and initially appeared benevolent and cooperative while psychically manipulating the people around her. Most residents of the Swiss capital, due to exposure to her mental manipulation, became violent and aggressive, attempting to kill as many people as they could and disrupt the world's resistance to the Endbringers as much as possible. Switzerland had to be quarantined and most of its citizens had to be imprisoned. James Tagg was one of the people involved in that campaign.<ref>Cell 22.2</ref>

She attacked London on August 12th, 2003. It is unknown what the outcome of this event was.

The Simurgh was responsible for the corruption of Sphere, leading him to become the serial killer and Slaughterhouse Nine member known as Mannequin.<ref>Plague 12.7</ref>

She also attacked Madison, Wisconsin, in December 2009. Heroes won,<ref name="R3.1">In the aftermath, he gets a lion's share of the credit in the Endbringer defeat like Eidolon did with the Simurgh in Madison. - Comment by wildbow on Reddit</ref> but as in previous attacks the aftermath necessitated the quarantine of the city. The Travelers were created as a by-product of this attack, which set the stage for multiple other events.

The Simurgh also attacked Canberra on February 24th, 2011; the event was a Scion no-show, but a Legend/Eidolon victory.<ref>Scarab 25.6</ref> The aftermath of this attack necessitated the construction of a dome around the city.<ref>Interlude 26.x</ref> This was a factor in Canary having a highly biased trial that sent her to the birdcage.<ref name="SB234531">Wildbow:
Think of it in terms of political context, the simurgh attack on Australia being recent & rather a loss for the good guys, her being a Simurgh-alike, news & public perception turning on her, and other factors playing in.
For Canary's court case ending up an uphill battle.
People are ~scared~ of mind/emotion control. - Wildbow on Discord, Archived on Spacebattles</ref>

Post-Slaughterhouse Nine

The Travelers and the emergence of Echidna performed their intended function, it is unknown if the resultant portal was planned. The revelation of Cauldron to the larger parahuman community and the subsequent fracturing of the Protectorate was likely planned.

Prevented Dragon finding out crucial information from Panacea.

Post-Echidna

The Travelers use culminates in the near-assassination of Chevalier and Tattletale and the death of Accord by the expelled Traveler member Perdition at New Delhi. It is unknown if Behemoth's death was a probability but given Eidolon and Scion's interference this is unlikely.

Timeskip

Attacked Paris on December 19th 2012 and opened a portal to Earth Shin.<ref name="25.6">Paris, December 19th, 2012 // Simurgh
Notes: Victory by Scion.
Target/Consequence: see file The Woman in Blue. See file United Capes. -

Excerpt from Scarab 25.6</ref> 

Gold Morning

Was recruited by the Undersiders and the Guild into the effort against Zion.

It is unknown if the Simurgh was involved in the creation of Khepri.

Quotes

"She seemed human, but fifteen or so feet tall, waif-thin, and unclothed.  Her hair whipped around her, nearly as long as she was tall and platinum-white.  The most shocking part of it all was the wings; she had so many, asymmetrical and illogical in their arrangement, each with pristine white feathers.  The three largest wings folded around her protectively, far too large in proportion to her body, even with her height.  Other wings of varying size fanned out from the joints of others, from the wing tips, and from her spine.  Some seemed to be positioned to give the illusion of modesty, angled around her chest and pelvis." - Migration 17.1

"She turned to one side, and Krouse could make out her face.  Her features were delicate with high cheekbones.  Her eyes were gray from corner to corner.  And cold.  There was nothing he could point to, no particular feature or quality that could help him explain why or how, but seeing her face made it harder to ascribe any kind of human quality to her.  If he’d been thinking she had a sense of modesty before, he didn’t now." - Migration 17.1

Trivia

• "Simurgh" is a benevolent, mythical flying creature. It is sometimes equated with other mythological birds such as Arabic Anqā, Persian Homā or Turkic Kerkés, Semrug, Semurg, Samran, and Samruk.
• "Ziz" is the third creature in what can be called an Abrahamic trinity of beasts. As Leviathan is first among the creatures of the water, and Behemoth is first among the creatures of the land, Ziz is first among the creatures of the air. This serves as a larger clue to the Endbringers' constructed nature that they deliberately tap into these belief structures.

Fanart Gallery

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  Image by DamienDraidecht on DeviantArt.
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  Image by Beru-bera on DeviantArt.
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  Image by anonymous Reddit.
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  Image by DerTodesbote on DeviantArt

References

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